


Missing

by EmJ93



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 15:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17144411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmJ93/pseuds/EmJ93
Summary: Aloth's grimoire is missing, and Ariela is determined to track it down to end her lover's worry.Technically a modern AU, but that doesn't really play into the plot or anything.





	Missing

“I swear to the Gods, Iselmyr, if this is your doing…” Ariela scowled as she threw another cushion onto the ground, dismantling the bedspread that she’d carefully arranged into a rather pretty display only a few hours before, despite knowing that she would find nothing underneath.

“An’ what would  _I_  want with the Lad’s spellybook?”

“If I had to make a guess based on my personal experience, I’d have to go with: to crumple the pages to annoy Aloth. Maybe put rude drawings in the margins?” Satisfied that her lover’s missing grimoire was not anywhere on their bed, Ariela gathered up the discarded bedding, throwing it messily back onto the mattress, before fixing Iselmyr with a dubious expression. “Look,  _darling_ , we’re going to end up being late if we don’t find the book soon. If you just…  _happen_  to know where it is, how about you point me in the right direction? I promise to talk Aloth out of being angry with you.”

“I said I dinnae conne where it is! Why d'ye always think the worst of me, Lass?”

“I don’t  _always_  think that!” Ariela defended, dismantling the neat stacks of letters and notebooks on the writing desk in the corner of their bedroom, as she continued her search. “But Aloth is very careful with his belongings, particularly his grimoire, and I know  _I_ haven’t moved it, so that only leaves…”

“One particularly  _annoying_  product of an Awakened Soul.” Aloth resurfaced with a pointed frown, and Ariela flashed him an apologetic look as she dumped the papers back onto the desk, having found nothing useful. He let out a long sigh.

“Well… I haven’t torn apart the living room yet, so let’s just hope it’s there, yes?” She tried to give him a positive smile, but suspected it fell flat when his expression dissolved into total defeat.

“There’s no sense in the both of us being late, Ari. You and Vela go on ahead. I will join you later, when I’ve managed to…”

“Hush, love.” She cut him off, crossing the room to reach him and brushing a gentle kiss against his cheek. “It’s clearly distressing you not to know where your grimoire is, so finding it is the most important thing I need to do today, as far as I’m concerned. How many times do I have to remind you that things that are meaningful to you are, by definition, meaningful to me as well?”

Aloth snaked an arm around her waist, and Ariela felt some of the tension leave his body as he pulled her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She returned his embrace, tracing her fingertips in lazy circles along his back as he held that position for a few moments, before he straightened himself once again, smoothing down his clothing. 

“Thank you, Ariela.”

“Any time, darling. Now come on, let’s find your missing spellbook. It has to be somewhere around here.”

Taking her lover gently by the hand, she led the way into the next room, pausing a few steps in to survey the layout, trying to decide on where to begin her hunt. The book was far too large to have found its way between the cushions of the sofa, though it could certainly be buried somewhere amongst the textbooks piled up on the coffee table in the centre of the room. 

She headed towards the table in question, spying Vela colouring quietly in front of the TV as she got closer, laid on her belly, legs kicking slowly back and forth in the air, an assortment of crayons spread out around her. Ariela smiled in her daughter’s direction, taking a brief moment to muse on how adorable the girl was, until she realised that something was very amiss.

“Vela, darling… what have you got there?”

“Hmm?” The little orlan girl looked up at her, tilting her head curiously.

“…Please tell me you aren’t drawing in Aloth’s grimoire?" 

She heard a strangled noise escape her lover’s throat from behind her. "She’s doing  _what?_ ”

“I-is that…  _bad_?” Vela looked suddenly very concerned, throwing down the crayon in her hand, and pushing it as far away from her as she could as though that might undo any damage that had been caused, fixing Ariela with wide eyes that were starting to fill with tears. “Did I do something wrong, Mama Ari?”

“Uhhh…” Ariela floundered, at a loss for words for the first time in her life, not exactly certain in how she was supposed to answer that question. On the one hand, she was definitely doing something she shouldn’t be, but on the other, she didn’t have the courage to scold the girl when she was already starting to cry.

“I didn’t mean to do anything wrong, I promise!” Vela turned her attention to Aloth now instead, having realised that Ariela wasn’t going to give her a satisfactory answer. “I’m very sorry, Aloth. I’ve seen you writing in here before so I thought that it would be OK. I just wanted to draw you a picture." 

The girl gingerly picked up the book, moving across the room to hand it back to its owner, an expression on her face that was fluctuating between shame and sadness. When she got no response from either adult, she hesitantly explained. "It’s, um… it’s of you and me and Mama. So that you’ll remember us when you go away on your trips.”

Despite the tension of the situation, Ariela felt her heart melt a little. “Oh that’s really sweet!” The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she rushed to add, in a stern voice. “But you really mustn’t  _ever_  take other people’s belongings without asking them first, Vela. That’s a very naughty thing to do.”

“I’m sorry Mama Ari. I promise I won’t do it again.”

There was a complicated expression on Aloth’s face as he silently plucked the book from Vela’s outstretched hands and began to inspect the damage, but Ariela noticed a gentle smile begin to creep onto his face as he looked down at whatever the girl had drawn. “I would appreciate it if you could just draw on paper next time, Vela. This will be very expensive to put right, but… I thank you for the picture. Though you need not ever worry. You and Ariela are always on my mind whenever I am away.”

“We are?" 

Aloth gave his grimoire one last dubious look, before snapping it shut and tucking it away into his bag without a word on its condition. Ariela made a note to find out which pages her daughter had ruined so that she could replace them later. 

When Aloth turned his gaze back to Vela, that gentle smile had returned, and he reached out to muss her hair. Glancing up at Ariela as he spoke, he informed; "Of course you are. The two of you  _are_  my family, after all." 


End file.
